[CQ-Contest] Two radios - one amp

Hi Terry,
I am an Acom 2000 Owner. If you have set your Acom up properly, it
takes just a few milliseconds to tune the amp. We did a multi-single
@ K1IR in CQWW CW, who also has an Acom. On the Run station we had
two FT1000MPs feeding a single Acom 2000, with an automatic cutover
switch. (The cutover switch is a new product from Acom.)
The first guy to transmit wins. When we went to S&P on the
run station, we would have one run station start at the top of the
band and the other start at the bottom. The Acom will retune every
50 kHz or so (depends on band). Well, we found no delay when one guy
would tx on 14.001 and then the next guy would tx on 14.060. Additionaly,
when running with a common antenna for 20-15-10 (such as a tribander), the
second run station could be used to hunt and work mults on a different band,
and it did not impair the performance of the running station.
Currently, the Acom retunes when it receives an RF carrier of other than the
currently-tuned frequency. However, for some time
now I have been working on some software which tracks the currently-active
tranceiver's receive frequency, and pretunes the amp BEFORE you transmit. This
would be of benefit in SO2R operation mentioned below, as the amplifier would
have NO delay before transmitting. I am working out final glitches, but this
software will be publicly avaiable on the net when it is done. (I will announce
it's availability on the reflector/) It will interface with WriteLog,
TRX-Manager,
LogWindows and soon DX4WIN, making it independant of the tranceivers being
used.
I believe the Acom 2000 is the only effective solution for a single-amp
SO2R setup.
73,
Gerry, W1VE/VE1RM
gerry@w1ve.com http://www.w1ve.com
>
> The review of the ICOM IC-PW1 amp in the February 2001 QST mentions that
> it has inputs for two radios. However, no mention is made about the
> practicality of using one amp in SO2R. In particular, can it, or the
> Alpha 87A / ACOM switch bands fast enough so that it is practical to
> only have one amp? When you hit F2 or whatever to dump your call in
> on the second radio, is there a noticable lag ( more than a few
milliseconds,
> one might think would be a challenge) in RF coming out as a result of\
> the band change?
>
> What experience is there with using one (expensive) amp in place of two
> less expensive amps?
>
> Terry Zivney, N4TZ/9
>
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